Just capturing the thought for the moment so I remember to do the numbers.
If it costs, say, £750 to fit a flue for the 4.7 kw stove to my rather large shed (7.5 meters * 3.3 meters * (average) about 2 meters high), then how long will it take to get back the outlay compared to just running a fan heater or two?.
Shed is single block wall (so not currently good on the insulation front) but the ceiling is insulated with fibreglass between the rafters which seems quite effective.
There are all sorts of reasons to fit the stove, because fire+toasty, but I was just wondering how much would be sheer vanity and how much would be practical.
Stovax instructions say a minimum of 4 meters vertical height for the flue.
So about 1.5 metres to the ceiling coupling and then about 2.5 metres of twin wall above the tin roof.
I want to get the smoke (such as it is) up above the neighbours' gardens as the shed is along the boundary fence at the bottom.
I was being generous with the estimate, because despite DIY I am considering getting someone in to fit it. Wimpish, I know, some days I'm all DIYed out.
I think it all depends on what you want, have and are willing to put up with for the whole process.
Having any solid fuel heater is like have a young child in that it must be fed and cleaned regularly. ;-)
And on the food ... even if you grow your own, you have to plan the food months / years in advance.
So, I have an IR heater on a stand that is above anything flammable on the floor and given my workshop isn't very well insulated, it gives instant heat to me, as and when I want / need it (with no moving parts etc).
Now if your workshop is off grid, you spend a lot of time in there and you have loads of trees you have / can fell, chog, split and store, then it could pay back at some time.
You still have the issue with potential 'point of use' pollution etc.
Give us the numbers. What temp will you heat to? What's the average heat loss? How long will you be in there? What will that cost for gas & for the stove? Will you pay for wood? If so, why?
One thing encouraging me to do this is that I already have the stove. Took it out of our previous house then fitted a larger one here so always destined to be used in the shed because .... fire .....
So I want to do it; just speculating on how financially foolish it is (not that it is likely to stop me).
As we have another wood burner there will always be a supply of fuel.
This is also a multi-fuel stove (newer one is a log burner) so there is scope for some smokeless fuel as well. Should really just have gone for a wood burner the first time but you live and learn. I could take the grate out and just have a tray in the bottom, I suppose.
Just to note that I have run a quick calculation using the Dimplex site with the figures as near as I can get to the questions asked.
It didn't have options for 4 external walls and 2 * double doors.
Single Storey Recommendation
Room Information
Length 7.5 m
Breadth 3.3 m
Height 2.3 m
Window Area 5.2 m2
Outside Walls 3
Room Level Single Storey
Outside wall 'U' value 2
Roof 'U' value 0.32
Window 'U' value 3.2
Floor 'U' value 0.6
Approx. External Temperature -3
Approx. Room Temperature 21
Product Type Q-Rad Electric Radiator
Based upon the above information we recommend the following. Please bear in mind these calculations are a guide to the kiloWatt loading required for the product(s) you have selected. You will need to select a heater which has a loading the same as or greater than the figure shown.
No.Room..........Recommendation
1..Living Room...5.7 kW Q-Rad Electric Radiator
So it looks as though the wood burner is rated about right for the middle of winter.
Ah, yes, that could be a big motivator but still not sure it would for me ... and I also have a reasonable supply of wood. You could always sell it (while you can)?
;-)
Then it's not that foolish ... just like buying a motor cruiser wouldn't be, even if you only used it once a year, if you weren't having to look after your cash. ;-)
But less with two stoves presumably?
Again, given you said the walls weren't very well insulated and a solid fuel stove has to be either 'kept in' to be any use when you first go in there, if you aren't in there a lot it could a fairly big money drain (unless you have your own coal mine, or have money to burn etc). If you only go in there intermittently and have to get the stove on ... ? Nothing stopping you also having a IR / Fan heater till the solid fuel stove get's going? [1]
Again, if you (or someone) are going to be in there a lot ... and don't mind tending the stove (it sounds like you are used to doing so) rather than getting on with whatever you are in there for ... then it could be fine.
Pass, I stopped having to wet-nurse Mums coal fire when she got central heating and the novelty had worn off a long time before that. ;-)
Personally, because I only use my workshop very intermittently and certainly am not living in there, having a heater I can turn on *and* off (and have it respond instantly) is very handy (and cost efficient). ;-)
Cheers, T i m
[1] Years ago we only had gas wall heaters at home (and the Parkray that was only used whilst the novelty lasted etc) or fan heaters. So, if when we came in from say the snow we could get a gas fire or fan heater on and get relief pretty quickly. I can remember being round a mates who only had central heating and standing next to the gas hob to try to thaw ourselves out till some head got into the CH. ;-(
I suspect that burning wood is likely to be banned in smokeless zones in the near future because of the particulate polution, so if you are going to any effort, make sure your stove can also burn smokeless fuel.
Without knowing what the heat loss rate is, its hard to say. But for a straight electric heater the numbers are going to fairly simple - whatever you pay for 1kWh multiplied by the power of the heater, and the number of hours it runs. So for example if its a 3kW heater, and needs to run 30 mins per hour for 5 hours, and you pay 15p/kWh then that would be 3 x 0.5 x 5 x 0.15 = ~£1.13 / day
If you fitted heatpump aircon instead, then it would be a third to a quarter of the price for normal resistive heating.
An advantage of electric is that you can set it for frost / dew protection when the shed is not occupied. (although there is no reason you could not have that in addition to fire!)
I lined my workshop with 2" of pir foam all over, and then ply clad it. Makes it very much easier to heat, and it feels much nicer to be in there.
What do you do in the shed? Does it create lots of waste wood for example?
Sadly I don't do anything in there at the moment but look at all the stuff I need to shift and/or get rid of.
In the future I aim to have a work bench and perhaps even try a bit of wood turning but I suspect that if I get it sorted as planned the main use will be as a garden room. So the stove would be part of the "lifestyle" thing.
The plan is to rationalise the 8 * 4 wooden shed so the garden tools and the mower can go into the newer big shed, clear out the garage (again putting stuff in the newer shed) and then knock down the garage to make space to reshape the garden.
At that point we may go for hard landscaping and do away with both lawn and lawn mower.
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